Despair is back again, and it is relentless, as wave upon wave of bad news comes every day, these days.
In 2021, I vividly remember the feeling of utter despair as thousands of Indians died during the brutal delta variant wave that swept through the nation. During those days of the Covid-19 pandemic, I saw rich nations hoard vaccines and life-saving supplies, and asked why were we unable to equitably distribute vaccines even during the biggest crisis we had faced in our lifetime? What was the point of a great, Nobel prize winning scientific innovation (mRNA vaccine) if we could not share them with others during a global catastrophe? Where was the compassion for our fellow humans??
In 2024, I felt a sense of despair and hopelessness as the conflict in Israel and Gaza devastated the lives of so many, including young children. I asked myself, why is the world seeing a record number of wars and conflicts since WW2? Why are adults failing so many kids and failing to protect them from violence? How much violence before we stop? Where is the compassion for our fellow humans??
Since 20th January 2025, I’m in a constant state of despair, because the new US administration has chosen to abruptly end humanitarian aid that was supporting poorest communities in many parts of the world. Diseases like TB and HIV are predicted to skyrocket again, and even immunization programs are now compromised.
Why was aid ended so abruptly and with no consultation or consent? Why was there no plan to end aid support in a kinder, phased manner that would have allowed countries to prepare and find alternative sources of funding? Again, where is the compassion for our fellow humans?? It is deeply disappointing to see other countries also use this moment of crisis to cut back on their aid programs. Instead, they are choosing to increase spending on defense. Leaders have chosen bombs over people.
I sink deeper into despair as the United States withdraws from the Paris Agreement, and goes back to the old ‘drill baby drill’ strategy, even as climate crisis worsens by every passing year. It boggles my mind that the United States no longer endorses the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Why have our leaders decided to compromise our futures? Where is the compassion for young people and unborn generations who will be most impacted by our current decisions to not act on climate change? Where are the reparations for Global South nations that did little to cause the climate crisis and yet will bear the brunt of its disastrous impacts? When the richest country in the world gives up on climate action, what impact will it have on other nations? What happens if more and more countries give up on climate action?
Even as the world deals with massive crises like pandemics, conflicts, climate change, and widening economic inequities, all of which require truly, global cooperation and coordination, it seems like humanity has lost it's way and retreated into narrow self-interests, nationalism, and isolationism. ‘Make America Great Again’, ‘Canada First,’ and the list is endless.
If all we care about is just us, how does the rest of humankind factor into our thinking? How have we lost sight of the simple fact that we do not exist by ourselves? That our survival is entirely and unquestionably bound with that of other people and all living things. What we are without plants, animals and the ecosystem that permits life to exist on our planet? What would we be without the diverse life forms that nurture and sustain us?
Even as our political leaders appeal to our basest feelings of hatred and prejudice towards others ("othering"), and ask us to jealously protect our borders, and arrest or deport people who do not look like us, or carry the right documents, or pray to a different god, the only way to survive this period of crisis is to return to first principles. We need to reaffirm simple, universal human rights: that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is yet another fundamental right of every human being. These and other such human rights have been the cornerstone of humankind's progress for decades.
Simply put, our ability to survive the polycrisis hinges upon our ability to rediscover compassion for our fellow humans, and reaffirm human rights. We need to care about people far away, people who do not look like us, people who are yet to be born, and all living things (not just humans).
As Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “I am human because you are human…my humanity is caught up in yours, for we can only be human together.”
Maya Angelou stated "The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free."
Toni Morrison said “If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”
All of these thinkers had the same idea in mind: they were reminding us of our interconnectedness and the need for collective liberation. If we rediscovered our interconnectedness, maybe we can rediscover the compassion we have lost.
We need to make compassion great again. That is how we fight cruel tyrants, autocrats, oligarchs and the dark forces they have amassed. We fight despair and darkness by turning on lights, not just our own, but that of others.